ABSTRACT

Over the past decade, herbal and ayurvedic drugs have become a subject of world importance, with both medicinal and economical implications. A regular and widespread use of herbs throughout the world has increased serious concerns over their quality, safety and efficacy. Thus, a proper scientific evidence or assessment has become the criteria for acceptance of herbal health claims. Casuarina equisetifolia L. (Casuarinaceae), is widely used as a remedy for coughs, asthma and diabetes. We examined the effect of ethanol extract of bark of Casuarina equisetifolia L. at 25, 50,100mg/kg doses orally in the isolated goat tracheal chain preparation, passive paw anaphylaxis in rat. The extract showed significant dose-dependent antiasthmatic activity in all these models.

Keywords: Antiasthmatic activity, Casuarina equisetifolia L. , Casuarinaceae.

ABSTRACT

The influence of larger dose of pretreatment for seven days on the anti diabetic effect of glibenclamide and glipizide was studied. This study was conducted on alloxan induced diabetic rats of either sex, randomly distributed into 4 different groups. The first two groups were treated with acacia suspension 2%w/v and omeprazole 20 mg/kg, p.o in 2% w/v gum acacia suspension for seven days and the other two groups (3 and 4) were treated with glibenclamide and glipizide respectively. The animals of the same groups were pretreated with omeprazole (20 mg/kg) for 7 days. On eighth day, glibenclamide (200 μg/kg, p.o) and glipizide (200 μg/kg, p.o) were administered to respective groups one hour after treatment. Blood samples were collected from retro-orbital sinus at time intervals of 00, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 18, and 24 hrs and plasma glucose levels were estimated by GOD/POD method. The onset of glucose reduction, peak effect and duration of action were assessed. The study indicated that higher dose (around 8 times of therapeutic dose) of omeprazole pretreatment has enhanced the anti diabetic effect of glibenclamide and glipizide significantly. Hence it is suggested that there is no possibility of occurrence of drug interaction during the concomitant usage of therapeutic doses of omeprazole and sulfonylureas. Therefore the therapeutic drug monitoring and readjustment of the dose and frequency of administration of sulfonylureas are not essential at therapeutic dose levels.

Key words: Omeprazole, Glibenclamide, Glipizide, Alloxan, Antidiabetic activity.

ABSTRACT

The whole plant of Enicostema axillare is traditionally used for the treatment of epilepsy, Diabetes mellitus, Rheumatism, Cancer and Hepatic disorders. Previous studies have demonstrated that extracts of these plants was subjected to acute toxicity and then screened for antiepileptic activity on Maximal Electroshock (MES) and Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced seizures models in albino wistar rats. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of Chloroform extract of Enicostema axillare (CEEA) on neurotransmitters concentrations in rat brain after induction of seizures by MES and PTZ. Our aim of study was relationship between seizure activities and altered the monoamines such as noradrenaline (NA), dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT) and Gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) in forebrain of rats in MES and PTZ seizure models. In MES model, CEEA (200 & 400 mg/kg) significantly restored the decreased levels of brain monoamines such as NA, DA, 5-HT and GABA. Similarly in PTZ model, CEEA significantly increased the monoamines in forebrain of rats. Thus, this study suggests that Chloroform extract of Enicostema axillare increased the monoamines on rat brain, which may be decreased the susceptibility to MES and PTZ induced seizure in rats.

Keywords: Antiepileptic activity, Traditional Medicine, Enicostema axillare, neurotransmitters,NA, DA, 5-HT and GABA

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate scientifically the anti-diarrhoeal effects of ethanolic (90%) extract of leaves of Morinda citrifolia. Linn (EEMC) was studied against castor oil-induced-diarrhoea model in rats. Antidiarrhoeal activity of 90% ethanol extract of Morinda citrifolia was investigated in this study using castor oil-induced-diarrhoea, enteropooling and Small intestinal transit models in rats. The weight and volume of intestinal content induced by castor oil were studied by enteropooling method. Standard drug diphenoxylate (5 ml/kg, p.o) was significant reductions in fecal output and frequency of droppings whereas EEMC at the doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg p.o significantly (P<0.001) reduced the castor-oil induced frequency and consistency of diarrhoea and enteropooling. The gastrointestinal transit rate was expressed as the percentage of the longest distance travelled by the charcoal divided by the total length of the small intestine. EEMC at the doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg significantly inhibited (P<0.001) the castor oil induced charcoal meal transit. The EEMC showed marked reduction in the number of diarrhoea stools and the reduction in the weight and volume of the intestinal contents, as well as a modest reduction in intestinal transit. The results obtained establish the efficacy and substantiate the folklore claim as an anti- diarrheal agent. Further studies are needed to completely understand the mechanism of anti-diarrhoeal action of Morinda citrifolia. L.

Keywords: Antidiarrhoeal Activity, Morinda citrifolia. L, Traditional medicine, Castor Oil- induced diarrhoea, Enteropooling Method, Small intestinal transit

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the anti-angiogenic activities of Triumfetta pilosa Roth. (METP) on rat cornea. oral administration of herbal extracts (200 mg/kg per day) for 3 weeks significantly inhibited the rat corneal neovascularization induced by suture, and the length of blood vessels in herbal medicine-treated rat cornea was conspicuously lower than that in control animals. A similar inhibitory effect to these was also observed in the rat cornea treated with thalidomide (200 mg/kg per day). These findings indicate that the anti-angiogenic properties of Triumfetta pilosa Roth. (METP) may be one of the pharmacological mechanisms underlying the anti-tumor and anti-metastatic activities of herbal extracts tested in this study.

KEY WORDS: Antiangiogenic activity, Triumfetta pilosa Roth., corneal neovascularization, Thalidomide.